


Bruised

by wolffairy506



Category: The Walking Dead
Genre: M/M, The gays are sticking up for each other, damn this pair they hurt my heart, the fluff queen is back at it again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-08 12:42:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8845543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolffairy506/pseuds/wolffairy506
Summary: There was a guilt about Aaron as he sat, quiet as Eric dressed his wounds. A sadness, too.Aaron and Eric deal with the aftermath of 7x08, which, by the way, gave me 7483647 heart attacks.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own any of these characters. They belong to AMC's The Walking Dead.

The infirmary was empty. It felt isolated - cold. Eric was cold. Maybe he was just too hot. Maybe it was adrenaline, or fear that chilled his senses.

Aaron was bleeding still, blood dripping down his face. His arm was still slung over Eric's shoulder, and Eric had his hand brought up to hold Aaron's. 

Because of his work with a NGO, Eric knew how to clean someone up. What he didn't know was the more complex stuff - surgeries, mental health... Things along those lines. Aaron knew much less than Eric; he hadn't been very interesting in that part of training.

"Up," Eric said, and his voice came out low and shaky. He helped Aaron get up onto one of the beds, and the curly haired man groaned with the pain. He bit his lip and tried to hold back tears. His attempt failed, and water traced two patterns down his blood-soaked cheeks.

"O-okay," Aaron choked out, and Eric patted his thigh lightly before running to the medicine cabinet. He pushed gauze and binding and antiseptic wipes aside desperately, looking for any sort of painkiller. He came up with nothing. Instead, he grabbed gauze, wipes, bandage, and equipment for stitches.

"You're gonna be okay," Eric said, resting his forehead on Aaron's for a moment of intimacy. Aaron burst into tears, pulling away from the ginger shamefully. He rubbed the tears away, and Eric grabbed his hand.

"Shh," he said, and reached for the clasps of Aaron's jacket. He undid them with shaky hands, pulling the jacket off of Aaron quickly. 

"Ah!" Aaron exclaimed, squeezing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth.

Eric drew his fingers gently down Aaron's stubbly jaw. "I'm sorry," he said, but continued.

Aaron could hardly raise his arms, so Eric had to unbutton every button on the flannel before stripping it off of the brunet gently.

Underneath, Aaron's skin was bruised. They attack had only just happened, and the bruises were already clear as daylight and definite as night. They stood out, blue and black and purple down to his midriff. In places where it seemed that the clasps or buttons dug into Aaron's skin, there was blood.

Eric had to step back and cover his mouth and nose with shaky hands, eyes filling with tears. He could practically feel the adrenaline coursing through him, and pounding of his own heart in his chest.

Aaron gave another groan, and more tears spilled out of his eyes. This snapped Eric back. He grabbed the antiseptic wipes (which weren't favorable, but the only thing available) and began to clean Aaron's face off, as well as the shallow cuts on his chest. 

When the antiseptic touched the gash under Aaron's eye, he gasped, choking back a sob.

"Shh," Eric said again, taking Aaron's hand with his left hand while he continued.

Now that the wounds were as clean as they would get, Eric would have to give Aaron stitches on his face. The cut was deep, he could see, and would require extra help.

He squeezed Aaron's hand. "This is gonna hurt." He said.

"Can't hurt more than that," Aaron mumbled back, and visibly braced himself.

Eric set the needle to the skin, and threaded it through. Each need he stuck the needle again, Aaron would groan a little. Eric felt horrible, but it had to be done. He wished with a horrible ache that Denise was still alive. (Not Pete - Pete was an ass. Especially to Aaron and Eric.) But she wasn't here. Aaron was. And he was in pain.

"Shhh," Eric said softly. "Almost done." Next, he put gauze on any other cuts and bandaged them. What to do about his ribs... He remembered being told to not wrap broken ribs. He couldn't quite tell if Aaron had a broken or cracked rib, though he was inclined to hope it was only cracked.

Aaron put a hand on Eric's shoulder. His eyes were dark and blue rimmed with red. His hair was messy and his eyes were shadowed with bruises. He looked as if he wanted to say something, then sighed. This was immediately followed by him drawing a hand quickly up to his chest, as he had felt a sharp, stabbing pain.

Eric's heart broke a little. "C'mon..." He said, helping Aaron off the bed. "Let's get you home."

 

The walk back was hell. It was excruciatingly hot out, the sun beating down on them as they stumbled through the streets.

Tara had seen them leaving the infirmary, and she had run to help them get back to the house.

Aaron had one arm around Eric's neck and one around Tara's, barely managing to stay upright even with two people helping him.

Eric was grateful for Tara's help; she was sturdier than the ginger, and probably stronger.

They climbed the stairs slowly, one step at a time. As Aaron lifted his foot up for another step, his toe got hooked under it and he tripped forward.

Tara moved, lightning fast, and caught him before he made impact. Eric had him soon after, and they had him back of his feet quickly. 

Once they had ascended the stairs, Aaron leaned against the door. "Give me a minute," he said, and Eric nodded.

The ginger turned to Tara, who was wiping sweat from her forehead.

"Thank you," he said, giving her a small smile.

Tara shrugged. "He's hurt. Of course I'll help you guys."

Eric shook his head. "No, I mean, before, when you told Negan that you made the bullet. You saved my life. Saved Aaron. Thank you."

Tara smiled a little back. "Us gays have to stick up for each other, right?" She said.

Eric nodded. "Right." He said, and he laughed a little.

Tara held out her fist. "Gimme some, bro." She said, and the thin man met her fist with his own. She smiled.  
"Peace out, dudes." She said, and addressed Aaron this time. "Hope you feel better. If you guys need anything - literally, anything - you know where to find me." Tara smiled, turned, and descended the stairs.

Aaron looked as if he were about to fall over. Eric had him wrap his arm around the ginger's neck again, and helped him into the house.

"Couch," Aaron mumbled, and Eric nodded, steering the towards their couch.

He gently set Aaron down on the cushions. Aaron looked up at him, eyes half closed with what looked like exhaustion.

"You wanna sleep?" Eric asked, and the curly haired man nodded blankly.  
The ginger piled pillows up for him at one end of the couch, and pulled out two blankets for him.

Aaron groaned as he laid back, shifting painfully on the uneven cushions. Eric pulled the blankets over him and kissed him lightly on the forehead.

As Eric was about to walk away, Aaron reached up and caught at the ginger's hand. He squeezed it tightly, and looked up at him.

"Please don't go," Aaron said. His voice was low and cracked with pain.

His boyfriend sighed out, heart aching painfully. He squeezed back with slender fingers. "Okay."

He sat on the floor with his back resting on the coffee table, holding Aaron's bloody hand as he slipped into sleep.

 

Aaron didn't sleep for long. Weariness could only dull the pain for an hour or so, and he woke up around then.

He turned his head to look at Eric, blue eyes pain-filled. "Any painkillers?"

The ginger shook his head. "I'm sorry, no. I checked in the infirmary and through our supplies. The Saviors took it all."

Aaron groaned. "My muscles hurt," he said.

Eric nodded. "Bet they do." He noticed the blood and dirt that caked Aaron's face. "Do you want a bath? It might help with some of the pain," the thinner man suggested.

Aaron nodded, and struggled to sit up. Eric helped stabilize him as he attempted to stand, and practically carried him up the stairs.

Once they reached the bathroom, the ginger put the lid of the toilet down and had Aaron sit there as he ran the bath water.

"Really warm?" Eric asked, and the brunet nodded.

Once the water was running, the ginger helped undress Aaron. It was painful to see him this way - naked, bruised almost everywhere, shaking with exhaustion.

Eric checked the cuts on his face; they seemed to have stopped bleeding, which was good. One less thing to deal with.

"Here," Eric said, and helped Aaron into the warm water gently. He sucked in his breath as his cuts stung, the hot water seeming to burn them.

"You too," Aaron said, motioning Eric into the bathtub.

The ginger looked nervous still.

"I'll be fine," the brunet reassured him. "I just want you in here with me."

After a moment, Eric nodded, and stripped his clothes off before climbing into the bathtub as well. Aaron sat up, groaning a little, and Eric sat down behind him. The brunet leaned back, and rested his head on Eric's collarbone.

They laid there like that for a moment, a moment of silence only penetrated by the gentle sounds of lapping water.

Eric kissed the top of his curly-haired head, and grabbed a washcloth. He saturated it, rung it, and then gently scrubbed it over Aaron's chest and shoulders. 

He was covered in so much blood and dirt that the water became tinted a redish-brown color. Aaron would suck in his breath if Eric went too hard, or gently grab at his hand. The brunet seemed to be more at ease now, as his muscles soaked in the hot water.

Eric then craned his head to see Aaron's face, and gingerly washed the blood from it, paying extra attention to the stitched area.

Now that his face was clean, Eric leaned back against the curve of the tub again, and lightly traced his fingers down Aaron's chest, feeling the hairs click against his fingernails.

"Eric," Aaron said, and the ginger froze, terrified that he had hurt him.

"Yeah?" He asked. 

Aaron shifted. "You almost died today."

"Yes." Eric said, rubbing his thumb over Aaron's shoulder. "I know."

The brunet's full bottom lip quivered.

"Eric, you almost died."

He was crying now, tears rolling down his bruised face.  
" _You almost died,_ " his voice cracked with every syllable.

Eric found himself with no words. There was nothing he could say that could make Aaron feel better. The brunet sat up, gasping with the pain of it. He turned to face Eric, eyes red. 

"I can't lose you. I... I can't. I can handle what ever those damn homophobes deal me with, _but I can't handle that._ "

Eric put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm okay - look, I'm right here, right in front of you."

Aaron was sobbing now. "You almost died - and I couldn't do anything about it - you..." He took a shuddering breath. "I love you." He said. "And I'm sorry."

Eric was taken aback. "What?" He demanded. "What are you sorry for?"

"Sorry that I couldn't protect you. Sorry that I couldn't protect myself, so now you're stuck taking care of me. I'm sorry."

Eric's brown eyes were dark. "I want you to look me in the eyes, and tell me that this wasn't your fault."

Aaron looked up darkly. It wasn't the look that Eric wanted to see. He moved forward in the tub, water swirling around them.

"Aaron," he said in a soft, gentle voice. "This wasn't my fault, and it wasn't yours. It was them. It was only them. I need you to tell me that you understand that."

The brunet shook his head a little. "It wasn't my fault," he mumbled.

"Now say it like you mean it."

Aaron met his gaze. "It wasn't my fault." He said, and Eric smiled painfully.

"No, it wasn't." He whispered. The ginger leaned in to kiss him, gently pressing his lips against Aaron's. He gingerly ran his fingers down the brunet's stubbly face, and Aaron reached for his thin body and held him close.

After they broke away, the taller man, rested his head in the crook between Eric's neck and his shoulder.

"I love you," he mumbled softly.

Eric had his hands gingerly around Aaron, lightly drawing his nails over the skin again and again.

"I love you more."


End file.
